U.S. stocks barely moved on Thursday after a report showed improvement in U.S. Mid-Atlantic business activity and companies posted some strong results.
The Philly Fed manufacturing report confirms that the labor market is stabilizing, although it also reports nascent inflationary pressures for manufacturers.
A gauge of the U.S. economy's prospects rose marginally as expected in February, pointing to a moderate improvement in economic conditions, a private research group said on Thursday.
Presidents of regional Federal Reserve banks on Thursday defended their role in supervising small banks, and said ending it would cut a link between the central bank and the national heartland.
New applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week and factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region accelerated in March, suggesting the economy remained on a modest recovery path.
Stocks were little changed on Thursday, though the S&P and Nasdaq turned lower after data from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed new orders in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region decelerated in March.
The U.S. stock market is trading flat as Thursday's unemployment and inflation data offered little surprise.
The U.S. current account deficit widened less than expected to $115.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, largely driven by the swelling U.S. trade deficit, a Commerce Department report showed on Thursday.
Japan's Nissan Motor Co will begin building the Leaf electric compact car at its Sunderland plant from early 2013, making Britain its third global production site for the zero-emission vehicle.
Futures on U.S. stock indices erased losses to trade mostly flat ahead of the opening of the stock market on Thursday after a report showed declining unemployment claims.
Lawmakers would seek to end current ad hoc international efforts, echoing industry calls for worldwide rules.
Israel's Teva has won the battle for German generic drugmaker Ratiopharm, paying an enterprise value of 3.625 billion euros to fix the industry leader's weakness in the world's second-largest generics market.
Barnes & Noble Inc promoted the head of its e-commerce business to chief executive, weeks after investor Ron Burkle accused its board of protecting the interests of its controlling family when it blocked his attempt to raise his stake.
Members of the World Trade Organization are likely to conclude next week that it will take a political miracle to agree a new trade deal this year, consigning yet another Doha round deadline to the dustbin.
The number of workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, while consumer prices were unchanged in February on lower energy prices.
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama picked up support for healthcare reform on Wednesday from a prominent liberal and a group of Catholic nuns, who broke with bishops on the issue of abortion and urged passage of the overhaul.
Stock index futures remained little changed on Thursday after data showed first-time applications for jobless insurance ticked lower in the latest week, and U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in February.
Deutsche Telekom's U.S. wireless unit, T-Mobile USA, is looking at possible joint ventures with cable companies and network providers to boost its spectrum capacity.
MGM Mirage's plan to exit the mature Atlantic City market in favor of booming Macau removes a year of overhang from the company and should clear the way for a share offering in Hong Kong by June.
The U.S. food industry is in store for a smorgasbord of mergers and acquisitions as companies look to gain more revenue and earnings growth and new, innovative products.
The United States kept up pressure on China on Thursday to let the yuan climb as Beijing disclosed it was sounding out exporters on whether they could cope with a stronger exchange rate.
The euro dropped on Thursday on a report that Greece is not hopeful of aid from the European Union, while Asian stocks hovered near a two-month high, supported by solid growth expectations for the region.
